Inside the Beltway

“I hope that’s not where we’re going, but you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies. They’re saying: ‘My goodness, what can we do to turn this country around?’” — Nevada senatorial hopeful Sharron Angle, in a Jan. 16 radio interview.

“We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, referring to health care reform to the National Association of Counties, March 9.

“You’re telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?” — Ms. O’Donnell in a Delaware senatorial debate, Oct. 19.

Four of the “top-10 quotes of the year,” according to Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School.

POLL DU JOUR

• 56 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of liberals say President Obama “learned a lot” from the 2010 midterm elections.

• 34 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of conservatives agree.

• 26 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of liberals say Republicans in Congress learned a lot from the midterm elections.

• 50 percent of Republicans and 39 percent of conservatives agree.

• 47 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of liberals says Democrats in Congress learned a lot from the midterms.